[capacivic]

I've lived in northern Montana and in Washington state for 13 years, and have driven a Civic for 11 of those years.


The Civic does awesome in snowy weather, even on mountain roads.


#1 thing: studded snow tires.


Tires are more importent than AWD or 4WD or ride height.


ABS works great.


The Civic's VSA system works astoundingly well on snowy roads.

Some pics!

7th Civic w/ studs in the Washington State mountains:

7th in the mountains in Washington:

Set of 4 studded snow tires for the 7th:

9th with studs in Montana:

9th with studs in Montana:

7th with some SUVs (ha ha ha):

9th in Montana again:

Be sure to drive safely and slowly. Maintain more distance than usual from other vehicles.

IMO: Anything with snow tires beats AWD/4WD. They really do work.

 

[capacivic]

Look at it this way:

Let's say your tires are 6 inches wide, and the contact patch with the road is 6 x 1 inches per tire.

6 inches x 4 wheels = 24 square inches of contact area where the tire touches the road.

Snowy roads *do not care* about what shape of vehicle (SUV shape or Civic shape) is connected to those wheels. Only the 24 square inches matter, where the "rubber meets the road."

So are those 24 square inches soft, grippy snow tires?

Or are those 24 square inches harder all-seasons or summer tires?

Which one provides more friction/traction?

See also:

 

[9GenSi]

All good information, but, do not put studs on your snow tires in michigan. You will be fined. In the area of Petoskey you will be fine with just a studless winter tire. Studs were made illegal here in the early 1970's but you can chain up as long as the roads are covered with snow. You will not see anyone driving with chains in Petoskey either. You need to go to the U.P. to see that.

 

[SICoupe]

I don't know if I would like all that snow you all get there

 

[9GenSi]

You would get used to it. In well over a half a million miles of winter driving, nearly half in winter conditions I have never slid off the road, gotten stuck or caused a collision in my Civics.

 

[scottyrocks]

This shows that snow tires are more necessary on certain places than others.

as soon as I get out of my neighborhood to a main road, about a mile, snow tires are unnecessary, as the roads are plowed. The only roads that are not plowed immediately are some of the side roads way off the main roads. Within the city limits, where I commute to every day, almost all the side roads are plowed. And those that are not I drive on as slowly as I need to.

I will say that I believe that in most of the country, anywhere outside of cities, and suburbs where they exist, it would be a very good idea to use snow tires during the season.

 

[nickhaldin]

I will say that I believe that in most of the country, anywhere outside of cities, and suburbs where they exist, it would be a very good idea to use snow tires during the season.

Yeah here in Des Moines, our streets are shite, so the snow plow packs a lot of the crap down more. So you have a (very thin) layer of packed snow on a lot of the residential streets that makes it really annoying sometimes to have to get up a hill or whatever. The bypass and highways here can get really sketchy during a snowstorm too, so this year I was like: "my 23,000 mile stock all-seasons aren't going to cut it this year. Snow tires it is".

But like was said before, 4X4 and AWD mean nothing if you don't have snow tires.

 

[jungfenlon]

Streets here suck, plows hardly help in a lot of areas I've driven in.
I had to get my mustang up to 50 on the only dry part of this road just to slide up long stretch of a hill and get around a corner lol.
Also didn't have snow tires so that probably explains why I had trouble.


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[kev604]

IMO: Anything with snow tires beats AWD/4WD. They really do work.

Totally agree with you.
So many people with AWD 4WD cars think they are invincible in snow and have a false sense of security.
I don't mind driving in fresh snow at night with no traffic out but hate rush hour driving in snow.

 

[jungfenlon]

Totally agree with you.
So many people with AWD 4WD cars think they are invincible in snow and have a false sense of security.
I don't mind driving in fresh snow at night with no traffic out but hate rush hour driving in snow.

That's how I felt when I first started driving because I had a subie lol. Learned the fun way (slid towards a new bmw and stopped inches from it while spinning out) awd isn't all that great while driving.


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[scottyrocks]

I always chuckle when I see a 4wd off in the trees on the side of the highway after a big snow.

 

[jungfenlon]

While you pass by them in a fwd, haha.


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[Si_formeandyou]

The U.P is very wild with snow sometimes cars cannot be driving at all when a storm hits but you should be fine. I drove all season tires last winter and did just fine down here in metro detroit but could be a different story up there. You can probably find some used cheap snow tires for around 70$-60$ each if you search hard and you only need two for the front.

 

[kev604]

You can probably find some used cheap snow tires for around 70$-60$ each if you search hard and you only need two for the front.

Rule of thumb either do all 4 or don't do any. Never do 2 cause your front and rear won't have the same traction for example if you have to brake hard your front wheels will have more grip, your rears won't have the same traction and can cause your rear to spin out. It's very dangerous. If your thinking of doing 2 your better off just sticking with the 4 all seasons.

The problem with buying used tires even though they look in good condition you don't know how long they have been sitting around. A tire thats been sitting around 5-6 years even though it may look new I would not want that on my car especially in the snow.
We all want to save money but cheaping out on tires is not a good idea. The only thing connecting you, your family and the car to the road are your 4 tires.:winky:

 

[Evman777]

My civic is chomping up the snow here in Alberta and we just got about 20 cm in the past two days. Good winters and don't floor it whenever you are getting going from being parked or stopped, it will only polish up the road for ya.

 

[13CivicSiSedan]

Do a quick search on Youtube and you will see why having only 2 winter tires is not a good idea. I see winter tires as a form of insurance to keep your car on the road. A decent set of tires can last you at least 4-5 years so the cost per year really isn't that bad.

I also buy a set of winter rims for a few reasons. I live in eastern Canada where they salt the roads in the winter. My 17" Si OEM rims won't ever touch salt. Separate rims saves wear and tear on your tires and rims when they swap them out. I don't know why people think they save money swapping their tires twice a year versus buying a 2nd set. My favorite reason is I can switch the tires myself whenever I want and don't have to wait at a tire shop.

 

[lkc0626]

I have drove 160 miles with about foot of snow on the highway last spring from New York city to upstate New York. It was after 9pm and everyone was stuck in the snow and crashed into each other but my civic was perfectly fine with that much snow. It only took me twice time to go that far in the snow.

 

[scottyrocks]

That you arrived safely is as much to do with you having the brains to slow down to half-speed as it does with the car itself.

 

[kev604]

I don't know why people think they save money swapping their tires twice a year versus buying a 2nd set. My favorite reason is I can switch the tires myself whenever I want and don't have to wait at a tire shop.

Also swapping the tires off the rims every year is not good for the tires. Taking it off and on like that will affect the tires seal.